Fulham hit bullseye with Mitroglou

The Cottagers landed Greece international striker Kostas Mitroglou from Olympiacos for a fee of £12.5m. The 25-year-old striker signed a four-and-half-year contract, joining Giorgos Karagounis in the west London club.

“I spoke to Giorgos [Karagounis] before I came here and he told me only the best things about Fulham”, said Mitroglou after completing his deal.

Fulham should be thankful to Karagounis for winning the race to sign the prolific striker, as West Ham launched a last minute bid to hijack Mitroglou.

Kostas Mitroglou started his career in Germany before moving to Olympiakos in 2007 where he made 148 appearances, scoring 62 goals, in six seasons. On the international scene, Mitroglou has scored eight goals in 28 appearances for his country. He scored three crucial goals in Greece’s two-legged World Cup Qualifying Play-Off victory against Romania last November, sending his nation to this summer’s 2014 World Cup Finals in the process.

Mitroglou made history as the first Greek player to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League, notching all three goals in this season’s 3-0 win away at Anderlecht in the Group Stages.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll, his team-mate in Greece, was eager to compare Kostas Mitroglou to legendary Eric Cantona.

“Eric Cantona was a great, great player, one of the best but Konstantinos is very strong. I remember watching Cantona on television and he was holding the ball up and that's the type of player Konstantinos is.”

“He has been the top goalscorer in Greece for the last two years. He is 26 and hungry and passionate about his football” Carroll told BBC Radio 5 live.

Fulham manager René Meulensteen, who worked as a coach for Sir Alex Ferguson, has given his old team a helping hand in snapping up Olympiacos’ star-striker, just ahead of the Champions League second round tie against Manchester United.

Rio Ferdinand was delighted, as his tweet suggested: “Fulham just signed our next CL opponents star mangood work Rene!!”